Duplicator.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SEBASTIAN FORSTER, OF STAPL JTON, NEiV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE BECK DUPLIOATOR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A OOPARTNERSHIP.

DUPLICATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application filed January 14, 1905. Serial No. 241,001.

To a. u'hont it may concern:

Be it known that I. SEBASTIAN Fons'run, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Stapleton,in the county of Richmond and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Duplicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to duplicators of that class in which a duplicating-band is shiftable to different positions to bring difi'erent working portions thereof into action as may be desired without waiting to remove the ink from the sections which have been used.

The principal object of my invention is to improve the construction and organization of various parts of a duplicator of this general type for the purpose of facilitating the winding, unwinding, and removing of the duplicating-band, assuring the proper stretching thereof, guiding the band properly in its movements, and reducing the friction on the same.

Another important object of the invention is to construct and assemble the parts in such a manner as to permit ready access to all parts of a duplicator of this type capable of manu facture at a minimum cost.

Among the features which distinguish my. improved duplicating apparatus from others now in use are guide-rolls located at the ends of the bed on which the working portion of the duplicating-band rests, these rolls being so placed as to permit the band to travel freely with the duplicating side out and always to turn in the same direction; a swinging bed separated from the box inclosing the operating parts and connected to such box only at the axis of such swinging movement; keywinding delivery and take-up rollers carried by said bed and movable therewith toward and from a normal position in which they register with suitable keyholes in the box; ratchet-wheels and pawls for locking the delivery and take-up rolls in position, these devices serving to stretch taut the working portion of the band and thereby assure a more perfect location of the working surface, and side guides for preventing lateral movement of the band while traveling over the bed.

Other features of my invention nothereinbe fore referred to will be hereinafter described and claimed and are clearly shown in the action, of a duplicator embodying my present invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, showing the cover raised; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same with the cover thrown back to the wide-open position, the section being taken in line 3 3, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The various parts of the duplicator will usually be embodied in a box, such as 2, having a cover 3. which may be secured thereto by means of an ordinary fastening device, such as 1. The cover 3 is hinged to one side of the box in the usual manner. This box is of suflicient depth to receive those portions of the duplicating-band which are not in use. The duplicating medium or band is shown at 5 and has a working face formed in the usual manner by a gelatinous film adapted to receive negative impressions in ink of matter to be duplicated. It will be evident that because of the length of this band a large number of such negative impressions may be made in the gelatinous surface before it will be necessary to reuse any portion thereof. This band will preferably be connected at its ends in any suitable manner to delivery and takeup rollers of the ordinary type, such as 6 and 7, which are mounted in bearings, such as 8, on a bed over which the working portion of the band travels.

in order to provide a support for the working portion 5' of the band, .I. make use of a bed, such as 9, which is considerably shorter than the box 2, in order to leave a large space at each end of the bed between the bed and the inner walls of the box, in each of which spaces 1 place one or more guide-rolls for the purpose of obtaining a regular feed movement of the band at intervals without undue friction thereon. The working portion of the duplicating-band will preferably be in substantially the same plane as the upper edge of the frame of the box when the band is in its normal working position. The bed 9 forms in this case part of a frame 10, which is intended to swing up and down in the box 2, the axis of movement being longitudinal and at one side of the frame, at which point the "frame is shown as connected with the adjacent side of the box 32 by means of hinges 11. The top or cover 3 may also be connected to the box at the same point by similar hinged members 12-. This main frame may be' of any suitable construction; but consists 1n this case of a strong stifl bed 9, connected to a pair of parallel side pieces, which in turn of these rollers also has secured thereto a ratchet-wheel, said ratchet-wheels being designated 14 and 15. These ratchet=wheels are located outside the forward side piece of the frame 10 and may be locked in any desired rotary positions by suitable holding-pawls, such as 16 and 17. By means of these paw'ls the two rollers 6 and 7 may be located positively when the working portion of the band is properly positioned, and'this working portion may be tightened by releasing one of the pawls and giving an additional turn to the winding-roller, after which the same maybe locked in place by its holding-pawl." be noticed-that the box-2 hasat l8 keyholes with which the squared ends of the delivery and take-up rollers 6 and 7 normally register. Thus, though these squared 'key-winding-ends are shiftable with the frame, they are always in position tobe wound when the frame is supported by the bottom of the box.

It is difficult to feed a duplicating-band of" considerable length, such as is used in an apparatus of-this type, without providing guides for preventing sidewise movement thereof; but the guides heretofore employed for this purpose have been usually so located as to interfere to a considerable extent with the proper use'of the apparatus. In the construction shown in this'case the guides for preventing sidewise movement of the duplicatingband are formed by the inner sides of the ends of the side pieces-of the swinging frame 10, which side pieces, it will be seen, project a considerable distance beyond the ends of the bed 9 and even beyond the ends of the guiderollsover which the band travels-.- Any equivalent type of guide may of course be employed; but this is the simplest construction known to me which provides an effective guide which does not interfere with the working area of the band and bed.

In orderto reduce the friction on the duplicating-band to a'minimum, I have shown herein two pairs of guide-rolls carried by the swinging frame and located beyond the ends of the bed 9. Each of these guide-rolls is 5 located below the supporting-surface of the It will bed, one guide-roll at each end of the bed being just below the upper surface thereof,

one end of the bed being less than the area with which it would make contact if a single large guide-roll were used at such point, and the friction on the band therefore being less than if a single large roll were used. The upper guide-rolls at opposite ends of the bed between the bed and the inner ends of the box 2 are designated 19 and 20, and the lower rolls are designated 21 and 22.

When a duplicator is constructed in the manner before described, all of'the working parts thereof will beaccessible for every purpose when the swinging frame is tilted upward. All of the parts will of course be protected from dust when the box is closed. Moreover, the fixed cross-pieces 13' and the movable cross-piece 13 form when the cover 3 isdown a closed compartment in which tools, &c., may be placed and in which they will be confined during shipment without risk of injuring the duplicating-band or any other part of the apparatus.

What I- claim is- 1. In a duplicator, the combination with a box having a bed extending lengthwise thereof, of guide-rolls between the ends of the bed and the ends of the box for leading the working portion of a duplicating-band at a wide angle to the non-working portion thereof'to diminish friction between the band and contacting parts, a duplicating-band a portion of which extends over said bed and guide-rolls, and means located under said bed and guiderolls for'holding said duplicating-band and for shifting the same.

2. In a duplicator, the combination with a box havinga bed extending lengthwise thereof, of a pair of guide-rolls one at each end, and below the supporting-surface, of said bed, a second pair of guide-rolls disposed respectively outside of and below the guide-rolls of the first pair and between said rollsand theends of the box, a duplicating-band a portion of which extends over said bed and the guiderolls, and delivery and take-up rollers for said band located under said bed and the rolls.

3. In a duplicator, the combination with a box-having a bed extending lengthwise thereof and mounted to swing about a longitudinal axis, of a duplicating-band aportion of which extends over said bed, and means carried by and located under said bed for holding said duplicating-band and for shifting the same.

4. In a-duplicator, the combination with a box having a bed extending lengthwise thereof and mounted to swing about a'longitudinal axis at one side of the bed, of a duplicatingband a portion of which extends over said guidei bed, and means carried by and located under said bed for holding said duplicating-band and for shifting the same.

5. In a duplicator, the combination with a box having a bed extending lengthwise thereof and mounted to swing about a longitudinal axis at one side of the bed, of a duplicatingband a portion of which extends over said bed, and delivery and take-up rollers for said band said rollers being carried by and located under said bed.

6. In a duplicator, the combination with a box having a bed extending lengthwise thereof and mounted to swing about a longitudinal axis and also having keyholes in'one side of the box, of a duplicating-band a portion of which extends over said bed, and delivery and take-up rollers for said band said rollers being carried by and located under said bed and having squared key-winding ends normally registering with said keyholes.

T. In a duplicator, the combination with a box, of a bed extending lengthwise of said box and having guides at opposite sides of its ends, of guide-rolls between the ends of the bed and the ends of the box, a duplicatingband a portion of which extends over said bed and guide-rolls and is guided by said guides, and means located under said bed and guiderolls for holding said duplicating-band and for shifting the same.

8. In a duplicator, the combination with a box, of a bed extending lengthwise of said box and mounted to swing about a longitudinal axis and having guides at opposite sides of its ends, of guide-rolls mounted on said bed between the ends of the bed and the ends of the box, a duplicating-band a portion of which extends over said bed and guide-rolls and is guided by said guides, and means carried by said bed and located under said bed and guiderolls for holding said duplicating-band and for shifting the same.

9. In a duplicator, a box, and a bed extending lengthwise thereof and pivotally connected therewith to have a relative swinging movement, one of which members has a pair of cross-pieces so disposed as to form with the bed and box when the bed is in its working position a substantially central closed compartment for the reception of tools.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 7th day of January, A. D. 1905.

SEBASTIAN FORSTER.

\Vitnesses:

C. S. CHAMPION, ALBERT ISAAOS. 

